Baker gets Senate approval while Meese, others wait

By
the Associated Press /
February 4, 1985

Following is an outline of switches and nominations for presidential Cabinet posts and their status at press time. US Attorney General nominee Edwin Meese III -- current presidential counselor. Mr. Meese appeared last week for confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee whose investigations concluded Jan. 31. ``I have conducted myself in accordance to the ethical as well as the legal standards of behavior for public officials,'' he told the committee. Ethics investigators initially said he had violated ethics rules but later said they had misinterpreted the facts. The committee is expected to vote Tuesday on the nomination.

US Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III -- former White House Chief of Staff. Mr. Baker Jan. 29 won Senate confirmation to take over as treasury secretary. Baker, who was approved by a 95-0 vote, hands over his White House chief-of-staff job to former Treasury Secretary Donald T. Regan. The Senate Finance Committee cleared the way for Senate votes on the nominations of several Baker assistants.

Richard G. Darman, Baker's top deputy at the White House, won recommendation of the committee to be deputy Treasury secretary. [cf3,9.5,10.5]Ronald A. Pearlman was endorsed as assistant secretary for tax policy.

Margaret D. Tutwiler now deputy assistant to the President for political affairs, was nominated to be assistant secretary of the Treasury for public affairs.

White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan -- former US treasury secretary. As the President's new chief of staff, Mr. Regan needs no confirmation by the Senate.

US Secretary of Education nominee William J. Bennett -- former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Mr. Bennett appeared Jan. 29 before the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. He won unanimous support from the 17-member committee on Feb. 1. The full Senate could vote on the nomination as early as Tuesday, according to Sen. Orrin Hatch (R) of Utah.

Secretary of Interior nominee Donald P. Hodel -- former assistant secretary of the Interior. Mr. Hodel, who was No. 2 man at Interior under former Secretary James Watt, appeared Feb. 1 before the Senate Energy committee for a confirmation hearing. Three weeks ago the President nominated Hodel to step into William Clark's shoes as interior secretary and named John Herrington to Energy.

Assistant Secretary of Energy Robert C. Odle Jr. is resigning. Mr. Odle is resigning, effective Feb. 24, to join a Washington law firm. As assistant secretary for congressional and public affairs, he lobbied during the past four years to set up a nuclear-waste disposal program, to totally decontrol natural gas prices and abolish the department itself.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Jeane J. Kirkpatrick resigns. Mrs. Kirkpatrick Jan. 30 resigned her post to return to private life. She would not discuss whether a senior foreign policy position had been offered after a meeting President Reagan at the White House.